Profiles

An esteemed film critic and now documentary filmmaker, Jeannine Guilyard taps into her professional roots to celebrate her Italian culture. As Italian Americans, we often play movies in our minds about what life was like back in the homeland for our ancestors. Some of us simply imagine it and others make pilgrimages to villages in search of precious clues. But for Jeannine Guilyard, that movie has taken shape and form as an award-winning documentary, “Return to Lucania.” Readers of this publication will recognize Guilyard as a longtime contributor and arguably America’s premiere Italian film critic. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning …

Chicago-area native Robert Pieranunzi will dance his way into the Nederlander Theatre as Frankie Coffeecake in the first Broadway national tour of the musical version of “A Bronx Tale.” After leaving the biz for nearly 10 years to build a corporate career, Pieranunzi was whisked back to his passion when he was cast as Busby Berkeley in a world premiere musical titled “I Only Have Eyes” for You in Hollywood, California. After that, he played two roles originated by one of his idols, Dick Van Dyke: Albert Peterson in “Bye, Bye Birdie” and Bert in “Mary Poppins.” And then luck …

Choosing to become a cannoneer rather than a medic, Robert Fuggiti spent his tour of duty in Vietnam providing artillery support for American troops on the ground. Bob Fuggiti was born in Chicago and lived in the Cabrini Green area. His family moved to the Old Town neighborhood when he was 3 years old. Fuggiti’s father, Dino, worked as an electrician for the CTA, and his mother, Adeline, was employed as a nurse’s aide and a Spanish language interpreter. His paternal grandparents, who emigrated from the Lucca area of Italy, had two apartment buildings where the family settled. Fuggiti and …

As a native of Italy’s insular island to the west, Karim Galici brings a fresh slant to his work as a theater pioneer and experimental director. Among Italian artists, Karim Galici is unique in large part because of where he comes from in Italy. The island of Sardinia, he notes, is in some ways more like its island neighbor to the north than the rest of Italy, even though Corsica is part of France. Perhaps this explains in part why Galici tackled the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery for the theatrical work “The Little Big Princess,” which traveled to Chicago …

Roselle contractor Stuart Caravello will ascend to the presidency of the Columbian Club of Chicago at a black-tie optional installation dinner on Jan. 19 at the Medinah Country Club. For reservations, call Mark Corrado at 847-337-6864. Caravello became a member of the Columbian Club in 2009. Since then he has chaired the trap shoot, co-chaired the Christmas party and St. Valentine’s Day dinner and served as a director, in addition to ascending through the ranks of the officers on his way to the presidency. “I joined the Columbian Club to be a part of an organization that honors and recognizes …

The Illinois Realtors has created the Brian A. Bernardoni Political Advocacy Award in honor of its local government affairs director. The award is based on the outstanding contributions of a Realtor or affiliate member in public policy political and/or legislative advocacy. It’s rare to have an award named after someone while they actually are still working in the field, but according to Michael Cabonargi, commissioner of the Second District on the Cook County Board of Review, Bernardoni’s experience makes him very deserving of this honor. “Brian has been a respected leader in Chicago’s real estate community for many, many years, and …

The National Academy of Construction has elected Satch Pecori as a member of its class of 2018. Established in 1999, the NAC inducts leaders from a variety of backgrounds who have made outstanding, life-long contributions to the design, construction and engineering industries. The president and CEO of Springfield, Illinois-based Hanson Professional Services Inc., Pecori was formally inducted on Oct. 11 during the NAC annual meeting. The 2018 class includes 37 new inductees. More than 300 leaders were considered during the election process. During the induction, the NAC cited Pecori as a recognized global leader for his work in designing and …

After almost making the Olympic team, Christina Desiderio transitioned from elite- to college-level gymnastics and she couldn’t be happier. Eighteen-year-old gymnast Christina Desiderio says competing at the 2016 Olympic trials after earning a spot twice on the U.S. national team was by far the highlight of her career. “19,000 people, not a seat empty! Two days that I will never forget,” she says. “I worked for 10 years of my life to try to make it to the 2016 Olympics,” she says. “That didn’t happen, but I got as close to my dream as I possibly could and I was …

Part of an elite strike force that led the charge to unseat Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, Sammy DiTusa and his battalion left the country 20 days later with a victory in hand. On Dec. 17, 1989, President George H. Bush gave “Operation Just Cause” the green light, setting in motion the U.S. invasion of Panama. The goal was to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and restore democracy to Panama. The invasion was set for the predawn hours of Dec. 20, a scant three days later. The lead elements of the invasion represented a cross section of the U.S. military’s finest. …

As executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, Marianna Gatto has made it her life’s work to celebrate L.A.’s rich and largely unknown Italian legacy. Los Angeles is all too well known for its Hollywood heavies, rock stars and thriving Latino culture. But as Marianna Gatto will gladly tell you, Italian roots run rich and deep there in ways unlike any other American metropolis. Gatto, who serves as the executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, dreamt of forming the institution that she now runs ever since first setting foot in an abandoned Italian …